How can outdoor workers relieve suffering in the cold winter?

Today, a winter storm brings snow to Tallahassee, Florida – the first measurable snowfall since 1989. Forecasters expect the storm to be over the east coast, potentially dangerous in strong winds and snow. Parts of the country for a few days have been struggling in the cold weather – minus 19 of indiana, south Dakota below 32, Illinois, the following 15, it’s not too cold. Reporter Christina Herman, in Illinois, went out and talked to people who had no choice but to take a cold record.

CHRISTINE HERMAN, wired: when I met Aaron McQuillan in his mail, it was 8 degrees outside. A few inches of snow and ice cover the ground outside the champagne house in central Illinois. McQuillan is in the middle of his line.

AARON MCQUILLAN: I got my kit here. I got the shoe clip. I got the heating pad and I was talking about a handbag that didn’t actually exist. I stayed at home

HERMAN: it looks like he can use Kleenex because his nose is running. Today, to fight the cold, he wore a knit cap with a USPS logo and hooded sweatshirt and a heavy winter coat with another hat. He wore a thick snow glove on his left hand, but on his right, he wore a thin glove.

McQuillan: it’s not my first winter, so I know that six people’s clothes often help. Six floors and warm hands – this is the miracle of science.

Hermann: on the other side of town, I was in the wal-mart parking lot to catch Seth Welles. The cart is hidden in the corral with a fine layer of snow and ice. Will’s job was to move the cold wheelbarrow from the outside. He was pushing dozens of cars stuck in the snow.

Herman: Welles is wearing a green, knitted ski mask that shows only his eyes – that’s all. Even though he had just begun his eight-hour shift, his breathing had already congealed on his mask, forming ice in the area that covered his mouth. He wore steel toe boots and three pairs of socks, and he was still in the cold war.

Wales: I had to work today because I had no choice. Either I’m fired or I can’t be fired.

Herman: across the Midwest, there are a lot of people who need help today, because at least a dozen people have died in extreme cold, and the unusually long temperatures below zero have continued. For NPR news, I’m Christine Herman from Champaign, Illinois.